Croatia vs Czechia: Third Place and League B Drop at Stake
Croatia and Czech Republic close their UEFA Nations League Group A3 campaigns on Sunday night, with third place at stake for Croatia and relegation to League B looming for the winless Czechs. Ivan Perisic returns for the hosts.
Croatia vs Czechia, the final Group A3 match of the UEFA Nations League, kicks off on Sunday night with third place and a drop to League B both on the line. Croatia are the home side and sit third on three points.
Neither team can reach the quarter-finals. The contest is about avoiding a bottom-place finish.
What is at stake
Croatia have one win and four defeats from five matches. They lost 2-1 to England in their last game. Coach Slaven Bilic's side will take third place if they avoid defeat on Sunday.
Czech Republic are bottom on zero points from five matches. Spain beat them 2-0 in their last fixture. They finish fourth unless they beat Croatia.
The Czechs last played in League B in 2024-25. They now face relegation back to that level for the next Nations League campaign.
How the group has gone
Croatia opened the group with a 2-1 win over Czech Republic. They then lost twice each to Spain and England.
Santi Denia's Czech side followed the opening defeat with two losses to England and two to Spain. They have scored just twice in five matches, and the lack of a reliable goalscorer has hurt them.
Croatia have never lost to Sunday's opponents. They have won four and drawn three of their previous seven meetings.
Team news
Croatia have no suspended players. Ivan Perisic returns after serving a ban against England.
Luka Modric, who came off the bench against England, could start. The 41-year-old is in line for his 208th cap. Igor Matanovic is expected to lead the attack again, though Ante Budimir is an option.
Czech Republic will be without centre-back Ladislav Krejci. He collected his second red card of this Nations League campaign in the Spain defeat.
Adam Hlozek, 24, has scored five times in 51 international appearances and is expected to keep his place in attack. Tomas Soucek could come into the side.
Croatia's possible lineup: Livakovic; Smolcic, Stanisic, Vuskovic, Gvardiol; Modric, Kovacic; Sucic, Baturina, Vlasic; Matanovic.
Czech Republic's possible lineup: Kovar; Coufal, Zima, Vicek, Jurasek; Kral, Soucek; Ambros, Hlozek, Provod; Naderi.
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